Hynix aims to regain its market share by devoting more resources to graphics memory

Hynix Semiconductor, a leader in integrated circuits used in
memory applications, has shifted
its focus to recover its market share in graphics memory. Hynix Semiconductor's market share in Korea
had topped out at 40% but was overtaken by Samsung Electronics Corporation in
2005 when Samsung began supplying the majority of the world’s GDDR2/3 graphics
memory to claim the crown.

Low and mid-range graphics cards over the last few years
have used surplus DDR1 and DDR2 modules as graphics memory to cut costs. However, as mid range cards begin to shift toward
GDDR3, manufacturers are less likely to use the slower (and more power hungry)
DDR1 and DDR2 variants. Furthermore, on
the heels of the AM2 announcement last week, DDR2 allocations and prices have
shifted, with memory module manufacturers paying a premium for DDR2 that was
previously heavily discounted.

Hynix Semiconductor plans to catch up with Samsung by devoting more resources
to its graphics memory division and launch such products as the world's first
GDDR4 chip last year. GDDR4 is a revision to GDDR3 which allows for high clock
speeds in graphics card applications. Hynix's GDDR4 modules operate at 2.9Gbps
and provide for double the clock speeds of GDDR3 modules. Hynix has about 150
employees allocated to designing and manufacturing GDDR memory.

ATI has already announced plans to manufacture with GDDR4
and its current generation R580 GPUs support draft specifications for the
memory.

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I contract with both Hynix and Samsung. Mainly their Eugene Plant and their Austin Plant.

Actually, Hynix is doing quite well.
Their FAB in Eugene, OR is like the egg that lays the golden egg. Their stocks have been soaring as of late and they've just completed their new China FAB. They are also considering to erect another FAB in Eugene OR. (Or the 4th floor expansion of the current FAB).

Hynix and Samsung are competitors. But Hynix acknowledges Samsung's dominance and Samsung respects Hynix's presence. It is in their best interests to see that both do well due to the fact that they are both Korean Companies and that they do not want to see Micron or Infineon back in the game.